Multipurpose fork truck



March 1954 o. J. GERHARDT 7 7 MULTIPURPOSE FORK TRUCK 7 Filed May 12, 1952 2 SheetS'Sheet l OTTO J. GERHARDT INVENTOR ATTORNEYS March 1954 o. J. GERHARDT 2,67 ,571

MULTIPURFOSE FORK TRUCK Filed May 12, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 OTTO J. GERHARDT INVENR w ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 9, 1954 Dtto 1L Gerhard X hima W s .a sisnc t "WalleyflsgpbratingCompany, Wash.

eeel eee 1 serer e-ertzu 1 M in ent o r late *9 indust al ,t ee e and, m l eu e w 'msltipurn ee fer ruck- Briefly t mp eveme'nt n ud s a Pai 9 iq k e mounted e qte eeheuten ,exie s me to the carriage of thefe ktmek hel ns-el eestei fiat working faces lockable in ja positijqnextends z n y r p s tion bl i a upri h p an or in e f esen ljn e Meet a p 50: vided to mor th f k e ms tewi rdensi ever rom ac her 1 t weyi or ,tru k i easily adjust ible to var ousftypes of'load-carrying function s; i

e v ers t er w e h b eeme e common adjunct to guest industries and has reeluted n en derelql fe eeem Yerieue trees of gfork trucks have been designed for particular industries. Generally "f e fo k eeks her been edeptedier i l it .e eed:eer ee action unless the jforkiassem' bly is taken apart and put togetherin'a'difierentirelationship, often with different parts, It is deemed porta'nt to many industries particularly small Q pla nts, to have a multipurpose 'forkftruckwhieh -may be readily changed from one to" theother of the most common types of jloajd carrying actions.

The three most'cjommon ayction's are yvith the load-carrying" faces of theffqrk horizontal, with the facs upr l ht incl-riding me ns to'squeze the opposed faces together; and with the faces in diagonal plane as is objects such as barrels.

The objects of-my invention include therefore: to provide a multipurpose 'fork" tiri cli is readily adjustable for varioususesi to devise: a fork truck readilyedaptable to dispose the'working faces of the fork'armsjih thethreemost' cojmmonpositions, e. g., in ehoriz mn plane, in'an upright plane, and in a "diagonal plane; gene to provide an adaptable fork' truck 6feoonomical construction for use in small "plants."

Myinvention will bebestfunderstood, together with additional objects 8. m advantages, from the following description, wh'eh read-With reference to-the drawings, in'ivhich:""'

Figure 1 is a perspective-view; partlyin-section, of the fork arms assembly andfc'arrle'g'e of a specific embodiment .o1' myiork truck; Figure 2is a side .viewotthe'fork truck, with certain parts-brokenawayf" Figure 3 is an elevational view looking at 1 the front of the fork arms-assembly; Figure 4 is 9. view; partly in sectionrtaken general'ly on line 1 -4 of- -l igure3 Figurev 5. is a yiewg partly insection, oithemeens ing plates:

4 leime- -Z1f1-T653 Figurefi ,is ,a yiew from thesid partly i sectibn of thestructure shown in Figure 5; and ,lligure "I ape spective view, in i a menta y era ly .b mi et b those t i gs whiehf e hanged from the ordinary 'eene ruction. Fig re2, ,is shownth o k tru b B of Q9?!- ven oha icpnst ueti n-' Th viqrker sas eni ly. is vertic imov l o e .statignar v rtica u e membe n ,e i enne eon rse ienest e l imevebleoneu de memb rs-Wh nventienel m n i pair v.of ver ca earrie e m mb rs 2 whiehe i ke iee. cha n -shap d- LAtt he t a r age l e e w r nfhplletr eyl sd ee sil d warm mber 'lfiendrqs l e wi h se c l n riea sui e ey are c rr e- 'n n ns cy drica s id memb 1. hes s i e membersvsi p e hefq armszeu por ie P ate zprt e ce ne ienle ee heeamebeins by means ofconnectin lates 2, Welded 1 1. 9- pqr iesln eieslflen eem d elet 24 in eac cyli dric sl de memb 1 6- pnneetins pl te O ate inse inh ll .eui ew'e members l4. ltjwill beuobservedirom this construean th f rk term su por in te 20 ar s/eur fisup pr e' and a e mo bl e izonta lly tqw cd en was .rr each otherheeri n e nem fihie eet n j nris h qreuli ylind resen Pi te membe qeitienled e l nqer li i ths ee u .fe arm iln er ins s ate 2, b n e .iFluid nnd ln ee ur introduced into hydraulic cylinder 30, through n i e ween .I tqn 132 o e t u p rt n l e 2," @R r e fl fluid ntr d c d t m other s de 9 th meme t reu hrl n s i b in s them th r. er he e ue z s m v me to th for ermei the ee t ensh wni F u To insure that the'supportin'gi plates 2 0 move the samejdistarice in outward andinvvardrnove me it a eiek n v in n as emb y set b tween the lowermost cyliridrical slide members [6. assemhlyjincludes pinion 4 0 iournalled in the e t et .4 an an enegine he ee een'e in t elidemembers esfl hewnfi Figure '7. The rack means include thefl'ongitudinel recesses 46 in each lower cylindrical member end the chat-n18 engaging pinion!!! and acting as'a rack. 1 Chain 48 is securedin recess 46 by this 50 passing into chain 48 in the openings providedfor' the chain pins. It will be observed 'thatithis" is an economical method of K constructing theiracks;

Z'Be'cured to each fork arm supporting plate :20

is a vertical load-supporting angle iron 5| and secured to guideway members i4 is a vertical load-supporting channel 52.

Extending outward normal to fork arm supporting plates 20 are fork arms 60, each having a flat elongated working face 62 strengthened on the opposite side by reinforcing ribs 64. Each supporting plate 20 has a circular opening T0 in which are rotatably mounted circular guide plates 12. The axis of rotation of circular plates 12 runs parallel to working faces 62 of fork arms 60 on a line spaced therefrom to the end that fork arms 60 in their horizontal disposition, shown in full lines in Figure 3, tend to remain in that orientation. On the inside of circular guid plate 12 is a cheek plate [4 inset into supporting plate 20 and lapping the edges of opening and, formed integral with fork arm 62, is lateral portion 16 lapping the edges of opening 10 and acting in the manner of a check plate. Cheek plates T4, 16 and. circular guide plate 12 are secured together by a series of bolts and nuts 18. Pork arm supporting plates 2!] have raised working faces 19 flush with the surfaces of lateral cheek plate portions 16.

Two of the positions which fork arms 60 may assume are shown in Figure 3, the working faces 62 being shown disposed horizontally in full lines, and in dotted lines being shown disposed in diagonal planes. In the horizontal position pallets and the like may be handled and supported from below. As supporting plates 20 are movable horizontally, fork arms 60 may be positioned at various distances apart, which is a valuable feature in handling various pallets or loads where it is desirable to have the fork arms a certain distance apart. The fork arms are positioned diagonally carrying such objects as barrels, paper rolls, and the like and again it is important to have means for positioning the fork arms at various distances apart for carrying circularbodies of various diameters. In neither of these positions is it necessary to have means for securing the fork arms in position as they naturally assume their position in load-carrying partially because the axes of rotation of plates 12 are spaced from working faces 62. In Figure l the working faces 62 are shown disposed in an upright plane. This is the position of carrying objects such as are shown in Figure 2 which are not on pallets. The hydraulic assembly 3t, 32, exerts pressure on the fork arms to grip the obfeet as shown in Figure 2. It is desirable in this position to have the fork arms locked in place and this is accomplished by pawls 80 acting in notches 82. Bolts 18, securing together the cheek plates, are usually tensioned to prevent easy rotation of the fork arms, and a tool carried on the fork truck in the form of a crowbar having a bifurcated end is commonly used to engage the fork arms to move them from one position to another. changed from one type of use to another by an adjustment takin a few seconds of time.

In the preferred construction of my device the working faces 62 of arms 60 are firm rubber pads 63 approximately one-half inch thick which, par ticularly when th arms grip a load, engage the load faces with a resilient, non-slipping and nonmarring action. Such rubber pads 63 are indicated by the double line showing of the jaw faces.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A fork truck assembly, comprising: a vertically movable fork carriage; a pair of fork arm- In this way the fork trucks canbe supporting members connected'to said carriage 4 and movable transversely thereof in a horizontal direction; a pair of fork arms each having an elongated broad working face and each extending outward from one of said supporting members normally thereto, each supporting member having a circular opening therein and a broad circular guide plate rotatably mounted therein and a cheek plate secured to the-rear face of said guide plate and lapping the edges of-said opening and each fork arm having an integral cheek plate portion comprising a crank arm extending laterally from said working face and secured in overlying relation to the front face of its guide plate and lapping the edges of said opening whereby said fork arm is offset from the axis of said guide plate; and locking means between each supporting plate and. its fork arm for securing the latter when its working face is upright.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 in which the locking means comprises a pawl pivotally connected to each fork-arm supporting member and each cheek plate portion of each fork arm has a notch positioned to be engaged by the adjacent pawl when the working fac of the fork arm is positioned in an upright plane.

3. A fork truck assembly, comprising: a vertically movable fork carriage; a pair of fork arm supporting members connected to said carriage and movable transversely of said fork carriage in a horizontal direction and means for moving said supporting members toward and away from each other; a pair of fork arms, each extending outward from one of said supporting members normal thereto and having its inner end secured to its supporting member by means of a journalled crank in a manner permitting rotation of the fork arm about an axis extending normal to its supporting member and offset from the axis of the crank arm journal, a plurality of horizontally disposed hollow guideway members secured to said fork carriage and at least one horizontally disposed slide member secured to each fork arm supporting member and positioned in one of said hollow guideway members for supporting said supporting member in its movement relative said fork carriage and a pair of facing racks, one on a slide member of each fork arm supporting member and a pinion engaging said racks and fixedly secured in relation to said fork carriage insuring that said supporting members move toward and away from each other the same distance from the center of said carriage.

4. A fork truck assembly, comprising: a vertically movable fork carriage; a pair of fork arm supporting members connected to said carriage and movable transversely of said fork carriage in a horizontal direction and means for moving said supporting members toward and away from each other; a pair of fork arms, each extending outward from one of said supporting members normal thereto and having its inner end secured to its supporting member in a manner permitting rotation of the fork arm about an axis extending normal to its supporting member, a plurality of horizontally disposed hollow guideway members secured to said fork carriage and at least one horizontally disposed slide member secured to each fork arm supporting member and positioned in one of said hollow guideway members for supporting said supporting member in its movement relative said fork carriage and a pair of facing racks, one on a slide member of each fork arm supporting member and a pinion engaging said racks and fixedly. secured in' relation tov said fork carriage insuring that said supporting members:

ing chains secured in said recesses forming said 5 racks.

OTTO J. GERHARDT. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Eidmann Apr. 15, 1924 Number Number 6 Name Date Stokes Dec. 31, 1946 Brereton Feb. 15, 1949 Vogel et a1 May 23, 1950 Ehmann Oct. 16, 1951 Bike Dec. 11, 1951 Hally Feb. 5, 1952 Ehmann Apr. 29, 1952 Lehmann June 3, 1952 Seagraves et a1 July 1, 1952 

